Sleeping Beauty
by Sakura aka L-sama no Miko
Summary: Here's another of my twisted fairy tales - this time set in an AU YGO universe. Yaoi - don't like? Don't read.


Sleeping Beauty Yu-Gi-Oh! Style

By Sakura

            Mukashi, mukashi there once was a noble pharaoh and his queen. They lived for many years, childless. Then one day, tired of their incessant prayers, the hippo-headed goddess Tuart decided to grant them with a child just to get them to shut up.

            The child was a beautiful boy with blood red crimson eyes and hair the colors of an early evening sunset.

            Overjoyed, the pharaoh and the queen went out of the palace to the city square and declared that all lower and upper Egypt should celebrate the birth of an heir. There was much rejoicing as noble and peasant alike bade their rulers their congratulations.

            A banquet was held a week or so later and every nobleman as well as every head priest from every part of the two kingdoms were commanded to attend, which none objected to. In fact, they were so happy to finally see an heir they wasted no time arriving, bringing their many gifts for the young prince.

            After the feasting was done and the slaves began clearing the remnants, the pharaoh instructed his guests it was time for the presenting of gifts. Once the nobles had finished oohing and ahhing over the infant prince and bestowing their gifts, it was the priests' turns to bless the babe.

            It took several hours and lasted long into the night for all the priests to bestow their blessings since both kingdoms had as many gods as there were stars in the sky. However, because of that, it was virtually impossible to contact them all. As a result, no one even noticed that there was one priest missing. Just as the last priest was about to perform his blessing, the large golden doors of the throne room blew open and were almost torn off their hinges as if they were made of sheets of papyrus.  The pharaoh was about to protest at the intrusion, but thought better of it when he saw who had dared disturb the celebration. 

The head priest of Set was a tall pale man with long silver-white hair that hung loosely over one eye. A glint of gold peeked through the pale strands. The guests gasped and quickly moved out of his way, as he headed towards the pharaoh, looking disdainfully at the people.

"What's this?" he asked, "A party and I wasn't invited? How rude of your majesties to exclude me."

The present rulers blanched. Even the great pharaoh who was descended from the sun god Ra was frightened of this man. Rumor had it that the snake headed god had favored him greatly and had given him terrible powers. "I-I o-ordered that a-all the head p-priests to a-attend t-this banquet," Pharaoh stammered. At that moment, the nobles who had despised the kindhearted pharaoh, pitied him. None of them wanted to be on this priest's bad side either. "I-I c-can't imagine h-how you were n-not given the s-summons, Pegasutep."

"Is that so?" Pegasutep asked innocently. "I suppose with so many gods, it's hard to keep track of us all." All assembled nodded their heads; that much was true. "Is it too late to give the little one a blessing?"  he asked, noticing the prince in his ornate cradle.

Pharaoh looked at Set's head priest warily, not sure if he had been pardoned for the faux pas. "Y-You're not angry w-with us?" he asked.

The silver haired man kept smiling. Those who were closest to enough to see it, felt a chill go down their spines. "Not at all, dear Pharaoh. Mistakes are made every day, are they not?" The pharaoh and queen let out sighs of relief. "Oh what a little darling!" Pegasutep exclaimed as he bent over the baby's cradle. "He'll indeed be the most loved person in our fair kingdoms," began the most feared priest in Lower and Upper Egypt. He lifted the hair from the golden eye his god had given him. "Allow me to tell you more of his great future." He then peered intently at the boy. "Oh dear!" he exclaimed in mock distress.

"B-Bad news?" Pharaoh queried, quivering.

"Indeed," Pegasutep replied. "On your son's fifteenth birthday, he will cut his finger on your majesty's prized Exodia card and die." He then began to laugh maniacally.

The crowd gasped and shouted for the priest's death. However, before any of the guards could muster the courage to attack him, the high priest of Set calmly walked out of the throne room, still laughing crazily the whole time.

The pharaoh and queen wept. The prince they had prayed so hard and so long for had been told would be their only child. Now he had been prophesized to die before he could take the throne. The distraught ruler jumped when he felt a kindly hand on his arm.

"Great Pharaoh," said the white haired head priest of Nut. "Though I may be young and not as powerful as that vile Pegasutep, I may be able to change your son's fate somewhat."

"Change it how, Baku-Ra?"

"I will make it so that the prince will not die, but be put into a deep sleep until the one chosen by the gods to be his love comes to awaken him."

Cheered somewhat at this, both parents thanked the priest profusely, making him blush greatly and vowed to double the amount of tribute given to the goddess of the night sky to help persuade her to intervene and to devote the rest of their lives to her worship. Baku-Ra bowed and graciously accepted their gratitude before leaving to pray to his goddess.

True to their word, all through the two kingdoms Nut's altars were overflowing with offerings at the end of each day. Pleased with the attention she had been getting lately, the goddess decided to help the doomed prince.

Also to be doubly sure that the curse would not come to pass, Pharaoh commanded that his prized Exodia card be split into five pieces and scattered throughout the known lands. He also forbade the copying of the card and anyone speaking of the curse itself as an added precaution.

            The next fifteen years went by with out a hitch. All the blessings of the priests had been proven to come true. Prince Yaminukhmen had grown into a very handsome young man. But that wasn't enough to make two kingdoms fall madly in love with him. He was as kind and gentle as his father and just as firm and just. By this time, Pegasutep's curse was almost completely forgotten due to the prohibition of speaking of it or the evil priest's name.

            "Where is that boy?!" the prince's governess said as she wondered through the palace halls. "Doesn't he care that his father's been planning this banquet for months?" The old woman leaned against the wall, exasperated. "That boy! Always out playing shadow games with those commoners he's so found of. Wait till I get my hands on him."

            Meanwhile, Prince Yaminukhmen was returning home from a rather successful day of shadow duels. He smiled as he looked at his latest spoils. "Dark Magician," he said, pleased he had been able to win such a rare card. "This one will be a welcome addition to my deck." He then took out the next piece of starched papyrus. This new card was one no one had ever seen before. He looked at it curiously. On the sheet, was a monstrous figure in Egyptian garb bound by chains. "Exodia huh? This shadow monster looks to be really powerful. I wonder where that foreigner got this one."

            As he put his cards away into his pouch, his finger ran along the sharp edge of the strange card and he let out a quick yelp. A thin line of blood appeared on the prince's fingertip and he winced as he sucked the wound. As he passed the palace guards, he began to feel strangely tired suddenly and started to wobble on his feet a few moments, then fell forward. He was asleep before his face hit the cold marble floor.

            "Your highness!!" the guards shouted when they saw the boy fall. They carried him to his room when they couldn't rouse him. The pharaoh was then immediately called for.

            No one could revive the fallen prince, though many of the priests and healers tried. The pharaoh and queen feared that the curse had indeed come to pass. Since no one knew when Pegasutep's vile curse would be lifted, the pharaoh was forced to place his beloved son in the family tomb. To keep grave robbers from looting his slumbering body, the prince's deck of shadow monsters was placed with him. Also Baku-Ra had his own temple guards stationed at the tomb as well.

            "Now all we can do is wait," the white haired priest said sadly, wishing that he had been more powerful then. Ever since he learned of Yaminukhmen's collapse, he had been blaming himself for not praying hard enough and was now a sorrowful sight for he had been denying himself any sleep. "I can only pray that someone comes soon."

            "That vile monster mustn't be allowed to roam free any longer!" Pharaoh said, fighting the tears in his eyes.

            The pharaoh had been trying to find the evil priest ever since he had left the palace that fateful night, but Pegasutep had completely vanished from the known lands and was never seen or heard of again.

            Millennia passed and many dynasties rose and fell as the young prince slept undisturbed. Soon the days of the great pharaohs of Egypt had faded into the stuff of legend and its many gods were reduced to mere hieroglyphs on the walls of many a tomb. 

It was now the twenty-first century AD and still prince Yaminukhmen slept on. No one had come to end his slumber for those who even remembered the curse were dust.

Seto Kaiba landed soundlessly onto the floor of the Domino City Museum. Once he was certain the night guards didn't hear him and wouldn't be passing by anytime soon, the brown haired thief headed toward the Ancient Egypt exhibit.

He smiled, thinking of the reason he was there tonight. A rival archeologist of his lover's grandfather had stolen some artifacts the old man had set aside for the boy and sold them to the museum. He couldn't wait to see the look on the smaller boy's face when he presented them to him.

When he reached the room where his lover's presents were, he had to bite his lip to keep himself from crying out in surprise. On top of an ornate sarcophagus lay – it wasn't wrapped in linen so it wasn't a mummy – a figure that looked _exactly_ like his lover, though it was a bit more tan. He gingerly touched it and felt warm skin. He drew his hand back as if it had been burnt.

'What the heck's going on here?' he thought as he stared at the figure. 'He looks so real. He even feels real.' Shaking his head clear, Seto quickly refocused on his mission. He had come for the figure's upside down pyramid necklace and the papyrus deck that had been found with him. He brought out the glasscutter and carefully drew a small circle the size of the pyramid. He tapped the pane and quickly caught it before it could nick the gold necklace. After carefully setting it aside, the brown haired thief grabbed the pyramid and drew it through the hole, glad that his laptop computer waiting on the roof was more than capable of shutting the security systems down.

He next went to the case with the papyrus deck. He marveled at the condition it was in. The figures on the papyri were still brilliant and the paper itself was still crisp as Seto pulled the deck through the hole he made. He made his way back to the sarcophagus and was about to return to where he left the rope ladder hanging from a skylight when something made him pause and stare at the boy.

He ran a finger along the figure's cheek to make sure he hadn't been dreaming the last time. Sure enough the skin was still warm and still real. He never could explain why he did it, but he knew that he would do it again. He leant down and chastely kissed the figure's lips. He found that they were as warm and soft as the rest of him. Wondering at it all, Seto smiled to himself as he headed back to his escape.

The figure on the sarcophagus blinked then rose to see a tall boy leaving the room he was in. Puzzled, the boy decided to follow whoever it was.

He wandered through the rooms as he followed the tall boy. He could see various cases with strange objects; plaques with strange hieroglyphs he couldn't read next to or on them. He ignored all these, intent on catching up to the boy and ask him where he was.

The prince saw the other boy climb through a shaft in the ceiling. Realizing he had been following a thief, he became more determined to catch up to him – it being his royal duty to punish all criminals since his father wasn't anywhere to be found. He narrowed his eyes and started climbing up the strange ladder made of metal and rope.

As Seto began to pull the ladder through the skylight, he paled when he realized it was heavier than before – meaning, someone was climbing it! He was sorely tempted to just drop the ladder through the window and let whoever it was fall to their doom, but he was a thief, not a murderer. So he calmly waited for whoever had seen him to reach the top, curious to see who had managed to sneak up on him.

Moments later, a tri-colored spiky head poked through the opening. "Yugi?!" the brown haired boy whispered. It wasn't his boyfriend, but the boy he'd seen 'sleeping' on top of the sarcophagus. He stared as the boy finished climbing up and stared back at him.

Prince Yaminukhmen got the shock of his life when he saw the thief he had planned on capturing was actually the high priest of Bastet. He then immediately glomped him, relieved at the familiar face.

"Setomaut! Thank the gods it's you!" the boy said in a language Seto had never heard before as he was promptly seized and pulled into a crushing embrace. "Where am I? What's this place and why are you dressed like that?" he asked shooting frantic glances at the buildings around him.

The brown haired thief couldn't help but blush as he extricated himself from the boy's hold. It was obvious that the he had been mistaken for someone the boy knew, but Seto wasn't sure since he couldn't speak this strange boy's language. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you just said," he said hoping the boy could at least understand Japanese if not speak it. "Who are you anyway and why were you on that coffin?"

The prince blinked confused, as what he thought was his most loyal priest pushed away and started speaking in an unknown language. "If you are truly not the high priest of Bastet, then I must punish you thief," he said in ancient Egyptian again. "If you give up now, I'll be merciful."

Seto recognized the look on the boy's face as he started speaking the strange language again. He'd seen it on the faces of cops as he fled from them on several occasions. 'Does he think I'll surrender?' he said unable to hold back a smirk. He was about to send a retort when suddenly the museum's alarms went off. "Kuso!" he muttered remembering that his laptop had run out of power and the security systems were back on line. He could hear shouting below.

            The boy started at the sudden noise and put his hands on his ears. Seto used the distraction to scoop up the computer and escape or so he thought. There was a grip on his arm a few seconds later as he was about to leap onto the roof of an adjacent building. "Go away! I have no time for this!" he shouted at the boy, forgetting he couldn't understand him. He pushed away from the Egyptian clad boy and jumped.

            Shortly, Seto Kaiba was leaping from roof to roof completely unaware the boy was in hot pursuit of him, matching his speed and leaps gracefully as a cat.

            He didn't relax until he had reached the apartment where he and Yugi were living. The encounter with the strange boy had him greatly confused and extremely intrigued due to the fact that he had looked so much like his lover. 'Just who the hell was he?' he thought as he opened the door.

            "Tadaima (I'm home)," he called as he put his laptop on the hall table and removed his shoes.

            "Set-chan! I was so worried!" a tri-colored blur ran up to him and nearly knocked him over. The brunet chuckled as the smaller boy dragged him further into the apartment. "You know I don't like it when you 'work'," Yugi said releasing him to sit on the couch.

            "I know Yu-chan, but the police can't keep these scumbags in jail forever. I'm the only hope people have. Beside, there was a personal reason for this time."

            "Oh?" the smaller boy asked, curious.

            Seto smiled and reached into his pocket and opened his trench coat. Yugi gasped as he saw the pyramid and deck of papyrus sheets. "Set-chan! I don't believe you actually robbed the museum!" he said, surprised.

            "Don't be angry with me, Yu-koi," the taller boy started, placing the items carefully onto the coffee table. "Your grandfather asked me to do it he really wanted you to have those. Besides, I wanted to do it. That sleaze ball Belloq had no right stealing from a colleague like that."

            "D-Demo –"

            "No buts, Yugi. What's done is done. Now do you want to hear what happened when I was about to make my escape?"

            "T-The guards almost caught you?" Yugi asked, worriedly and going slightly pale.

            The brown haired thief chuckled. "No but I did meet a very interesting person who thought I was someone else." He smiled at the memory of the strange boy from the exhibit.

            "Did he try to stop you?"

            "Yes. But what really matters is that he looked…" Just then, there was a knock at the door.

            "I'll get it!" Yugi said bouncing off the couch and headed to the foyer. Seto got up and followed his petit lover.

            Yugi opened the door. "Can I help…" he stared at the person beyond. The brown haired thief paled then quickly recovered, not wanting to make his beloved Yugi worry too much. He shook his head, sighing to himself.

            'I can't believe he actually managed to follow me all this way,' Seto thought. 'He's as stubborn as Yugi.' That brought a smile to his face. "Well, hello again," he said coming up to the boys.

            Yaminukhmen narrowed his eyes at seeing the thief and bringing him out of his shock. The boy who resembled him had to wait – he had a thief to punish. "Surrender thief, there's nowhere to run," he said in his native language.

            Yugi snapped out of his own shock at the stranger's deep voice. "Is this the interesting person you met at the museum, Seto?" he asked his taller lover. Seto smiled and nodded, not sure what to say.

            "Um… I think you'd better come in," Yugi said to the boy using the same language as his double. "We can explain," he added seeing the boy's uncertainty.

            Yaminukhmen nodded and stepped inside as the two boys made way for him. "Where am I?" he asked Yugi not bothering to sit when the smaller boy asked him. "This isn't Egypt is it?" Yugi shook his head sadly.

            "You're in Japan, a country far to the east of Egypt," Yugi replied, wondering how a part of his grandfather's exhibit could suddenly move around and talk.

            "You understand him?!" Seto asked his petit lover in utter shock.

            Yugi blushed slightly. "Grandpa taught me ancient Egyptian when I was little," he explained.

            "So that's what he was speaking," the taller boy said looking at the taller version of his boyfriend.

            Their 'guest' cleared his throat, to remind them of his presence. Yugi turned to face him and stuck out his hand. "I'm Yugi and this is… um… my boyfriend Seto," he said blushing slightly. "I don't want to be rude but, were you lying on top of a sarcophagus before?"

            The Egyptian boy nodded. "I am Yaminukhmen prince of Lower and Upper Egypt," he said, "How did I come to be here and why isn't my father the pharaoh here?"

            Yugi quickly translated for Seto so he would feel left out. The taller boy just stared in amazement as the two look-a-likes continued to talk to each other. He was also fighting against the sudden urge to kiss the prince again now that he was sure he wasn't dreaming.

            "You've been asleep for many millennia," Yugi said sadly, hating to be the bearer of bad news, "I'm sorry, but your father is probably a mummy in some museum now."

            A look of infinite sadness came over the prince's face, causing Seto to want to scoop him up and comfort him just as he had with Yugi every once in a while, but it quickly faded away before the thief could act upon it. "I see," Yaminukhmen said gravely.

'So Pegasutep's curse did come to pass,' he thought to himself.

            Yugi looked at his lover, a questioning plea on his face. Seto knew what the smaller boy wanted to ask and sighed. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this, but if you want him to stay, he can stay," he said, never truly able to deny the petit angel anything. "But you'll have to explain to him why I do what I do," he added.

            The smallest of the three boys nodded happily. Yaminukhmen said nothing, waiting patiently for his double to translate. Yugi turned back to the dislocated prince. "Prince Yaminukhmen…" he said placing a reassuring hand on his arm. "You could live here with us, if you'd like. Or maybe my grandfather can find you a place in Egypt if that's what you want."

            The prince looked at the boys for several moments, thinking his situation over. Yugi smiled warmly at him as did his taller lover though there was a hint of mischief in the ice blue eyes. Yaminukhmen blushed at the memory of the brown haired boy's kiss. "I do not wish to be a burden," he began.

            "You won't be!" Yugi said emphatically. He had caught his lover's furtive glances at the prince and he too felt a strange pull coming from his doppleganger. "There's plenty of room. And I don't mind sharing," he said with a mischievous glint in his violet eyes.

            Seto knew that glint all too well. "Just what are you up to?" he asked.

            "I told him I wouldn't mind sharing," Yugi said innocently.

            "You didn't?!" Seto blushed profusely. 

Yugi nodded. "I really don't mind, Set-chan. 'Sides he is really good looking," the smaller boy added, blushing and causing his lover to blush even redder than before.

"I can't thank you enough," the prince said watching the two lovers with amusement.

"I think we can think of a way," Yugi said quickly grabbing hold of the prince, kissing him. The Egyptian's and Seto's eyes went wide, however Yaminukhmen soon relaxed and returned the kiss. Seto shook his head, but had to chuckle at his love's actions. Yugi wouldn't be Yugi if he weren't so impulsive.

"Yu-chan, I think we'd better show him the bedroom. It's rather late," Seto said leading the two boys away from the living room.

~Owari~

KaizerKen: Sakura! This is the 'work' you had to do for your father?!

Sakura: Eep! Umm… Kaizer-sama, meet my new muses Yami, Yugi and Seto.

Seto: I want out of this nuthouse. _NOW._

KKen: Hmm… interesting but that doesn't explain why you lied to me and didn't write another Kensuke.

Sakura: Hey! Blame L-sama not me! She's the one who told me to write this thing!

Daisuke: Oi Ken-chan, I thought you'd appreciate some free time with me.

KKen: (blushes) I do, but Sakura-chan…

Dai: Ken! I thought you cared about me! ;_;

KKen: Dai-chan! Wait!

Sakura: Crocodile Tears – they work every time.

Yugi: Um… Sakura-san asks that you review this fic.

Seto: Tell her to stop writing this crap.

Sakura: Seto!!!! I thought you'd like some time with Yami and Yugi. Or did you really enjoy staying with Pegasus?

Seto: On second thought, tell her you like her stuff and keep writing.

Sakura: It's good to be the miko. ^_^

Xel: Not to mention part mazoku. ^_^

Myotismon: Or part virus digimon. ^,_,^

Riddle: Or in Slytherin.

Yami&Yugi: OK they get the picture. -_-''''


End file.
